The Johns Hopkins University graduate student workers union reached a tentative agreement with the private university Friday.
Members of the Teachers and Researchers United, or TRU, are Ph.D. students who teach or conduct research while earning their degrees. They will vote to ratify the contract over the next month, which sets a minimum stipend of $47,000, guarantees stipends for four years of a five-year degree and provides up to 12 weeks of paid parental leave.
“It’s definitely a relief to get to this point,” said Andrew Eneim, a fifth-year Ph.D student and TRU member who’s helped organize the union for the past four years. “It’s why we did all this work in the first place.”
If the agreement is approved, TRU members would become some of the highest-paid graduate workers compared to the cost of living in the country, Eneim said. TRU’s 22-member bargaining committee and Hopkins representatives agreed to the tentative contract.
A Hopkins spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Graduate workers are paid stipends for teaching and research. But work opportunities are limited, and the stipend amount could vary depending on the field of study and department. That created a $20,000 disparity between the lowest- and highest-paid graduate workers, Eneim said, a gap that would be closed by the agreement. Workers would be guaranteed funding for teaching assistants, research assistants and fellows for at least four years depending on their department.
“Everybody is getting paid fairly, and there aren’t these tiers that the university created in the past,” Eneim said.
More than 3,300 Hopkins Ph.D. students voted to unionize with a 97% vote in February 2023. TRU is affiliated with the United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America and began bargaining with the university last May.
Graduate student unions have been around since the 1970s, but there’s been a surge in organizing at elite, private universities. The National Labor Relations Board in 2021 reversed a rule that had excluded undergraduate and graduate students from filing a petition to the board, opening the door for TRU to become an official union.
As a private institution, Hopkins is subject to the National Labor Relations Board’s federal jurisdiction. Conversely, the University of Maryland, a public university, does not have collective bargaining rights.
TRU members can’t strike or promote a work slowdown or stoppage as part of the agreement that would expire in June 2027.
Stipends would start at $47,000 in July and increase to $52,000 by July 2026. Graduate workers would each receive a one-time $1,000 signing bonus if the contract is ratified.
Along with the university covering health insurance premiums for dependent children and spouses, employees would receive a subsidy of $4,500 per child annually for children aged 6 and under. Employees with children aged 6 to 18 would be eligible for a $3,000 subsidy per child annually. There is an annual maximum of $12,000 per family.
Those with adult dependents would be eligible for an annual $3,000 subsidy per dependent.
International students would be able to apply for an $80,000 yearly fund to cover visa renewal fees, as well as being eligible for 14 days of leave to maintain immigration status.
Other highlights of TRU’s agreement include the right to peacefully protest without being met by force, free local transit passes for Baltimore and Washington, timely resolution of sexual harassment/Title IX complaints, explicit performance standards and just process in discipline and discharge procedures, and the use of progressive discipline, not law enforcement, in cases of mental health crises and drug abuse.
“We have work to do in the coming weeks to inform our members and ratify what we believe to be the best contract in higher ed labor,” Wisam Awadallah, a TRU member, said in a statement.
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